Venetian blind tilter



Dec. 3, 1940. H. K. LORENTZEN VENETIAN 'BLIND TILTER- Fil ed Nov. 18,1938 I INVENTOR I flaw fiwwzzz m I M rrommav Patented Dec. 3, 1940 UN EDs 'rss Hans K. Lorentsen, Montclair, N. 1., assigns to LorentsenHardware Hf: m New .York,

1N.Y.,acorporationofllewYork Application November 1:, ms. Serial No.241,133

' sauna. (a. 150-11) This invention relates to Venetian blinds, and

for the most part the features involved in the invention areincorporated in a unit customarily referred to as a tilter. 1 Thistilter is. of course, used to tilt the upper slat of a Venetian blindand thereby incline all of the slats. which are articulated with theupper slat in a conventional manner.

o Venetian blind tilters customarily embody a drive shaft from whichtilting movement is desired, often through a worm and gear assembly.Usually the drive shaft is provided with a pulley adapted to be drivenby a cord which passes over u the pulley and has its two ends hangingfree in 1 suitable position to be grasped by the operator. If the cordcumulatively slips or crawls in one direction over the pulley duringrepeated manipulations of the blind, one end of the cord eventuallyclimbs inconvenientlyhigh while the other end droops too low. For somereason, such cumulative slippage of the cord takes place in very manyinstallations despite ribbed pulleys. cord guides, and other means thatare usually used to 25 minimize cord slippage. Accordingly, inactualpractice it periodically becomes necessary with many installations tomanually lift the cord from the pulley and relocate it thereon: Ofcourse. this is considerable bother to a Venetian blind user, whoordinarily has to employ a stepladder or the like to reach the pulley.

A principal object of the presentinvention is to provide a Venetianblind with tilting mechanism which permits quick-and easy relocation ofthe cord to compensate for accumulated slippage.

Another object of the invention is to produce a Venetian blind tilterwhich provides for relocation of a slipped operating cord without any 40manipulations other than mere pulling of the cord to the correctposition.

A further object of the invention is to provide for readyand quickassembly of the operating cord with the rest of the tilter. when thetilter is Anadditional object at the invention is to provide a Venetianblind tilter which effectively encloses the operating parts and whichprovides for adequate lubrication of the same. soAstillfurtherobiectoftheinventionistoaccomplish the foregoing resultswith a construction adapted for mtisfactory and economical r w tim.largely from inexpensive stamped sheet metal parts. asVarimisspecincanddetailedobisctaoftheinvention will be apparent from theaccompanying disclosure Fig. 1 of the drawing is, in general, a frontelevation of a tilter embodyin the invention. A.portionofafrictfondisciscutawaytoshowthe pulley. and the pulley cord isomitted for the sake of clarity.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the tilter structure shown in Fig. 1. mFig. 3 is a top plan view of the tilter structure shown in Fig. 1,portions of the mounting flanges being cut away to show details belowthem.

Fig. 4 is in general a vertical section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2,but the pulley and certain associated parts are shown in elevation.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section of the pulley and certain associatedparts taken in general on the line H of Fig. .4.

Fig. 6 is an exploded view showing the parts of the tilter housing andcertain gears enclosed by the homing.

Fig. 7 is'a side elevation of a dish like member which retains lubricantfor the gears. v

Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the tilter, on a reduced scale,illustrating how the cord is inserted when initially installed. I

The housing of the tilter is-made up primarily of two stamped sheetmetal shells designated as a whole by A, and B respectively. These twoshells are identical except that one is a so-called mirror reversal ofthe other so that the two shells may be fitted together in complementaryrelationship. Thus, the detailed description applies equally well toboth of the shells. and the same reference characters are applied to thecorresponding parts of the two shells. Preferably, each shell is stampedin one piece.

Each shell has a vertical flat face portion it that is separated intotwo parts by a vertical channel ll. This channel is open at both endsand connects a gear-receiving depression I! with the top of the shell.The depression I! is'shallower than the main portion of the channel ii;

and as the channel approaches the depres i it diminishes in depth andmerges smoothly into the depression l2. 'lransversely of the channel IIthe shell is provided with a semicircular shaftreceiving recess it,which may he in two parts.

on opposite sides of el H as shown in H8- 4. Adjacent to one edge eachof the shells is p videdwithahook I8. AtthetomeachofthesheiisAandBisprovicienwithahorisontalflanile itadaptedtobesecuredbyscrewsorothermeans to a suitable support iormounting the tllier.

Incmdedin the tiiteraretwodwlicate gear elements i8, i6. These areassembled face-toface so as to, .in effect, constitute one gear. Each ofthe gear elements l8. l8 may be so stamped from sheet metal as to have atoothed disc i1 and a hub portion l8. As shown in Fig. 4, the tootheddisc portion i1 isadapted to be located in gearreceiving depression l2.The hub portion 18 makes a bearing fit with perforated boss L (Fig. 6)formed integral with depression l2. In order 10 that the gear elementsl6, l8 may be duplicates.

it is necessary that they be provided with an even number of teeth sothat the respective teeth of the two gear elements will be in alignmentwhen the gear elements are positioned face to face.

'Ifdesired, the entire periphery of disc portion l1 may be toothed, butI prefer to leave a blank space l8 (Fig. 4) which acts asa stop toprevent complete rotation of gears. The gear hubs l8,

i8 areprov'lded with duplicatenon-circular holes,

'e. g., rectangular holes, to receive and drive a connector member M(Figs. 2 and 4) projecting from the top slat of the blind. a

As shown more particularly in Fig. 4, a drive shaft 28 is adapted to bejournailed in shaftreceiving recesses l4, and the shaft carries a worm2| which meshes with the gear elements i8, it. In assembly, the gearelements l8, it are placed in the respective gear-receiving depressionsi2, i2. Then the tilter housing is formed by bringing the two shells Aand B together in face-to-face relationship and permanently securingthem together by suitable means such as spot welding. This housing isthen plated, or otherwise suitably finished, thereby covering allmanufacturing scars, including the welding scars. Thereafter the worm 2|and shaft 28 are installed, as will be described later.

The free end of the shaft 28 is provided with an integral head 28,adjacent to which is an 40 integral square shank portion 28 (Fig. 5):and adjacent to the square shank portion 28 there is a round shankportion 21. Initially this round shank portion 21 extends to the pointdesignated by T in Fig. 5. Telescoped on to the square shank 48 portion28 is a friction disc 28, preferably made of suitable spring materialsuch as spring bronze. The hole in the center of disc 28 corresponds tosquare shank 28, so that the disc cannot rotate with respect to shaft22. Telescoped onto the 60 round shank portion 21 is a sheet metalpulley designated as a whole by P. This pulley is shown as made up ofstampings 28 and 88 permanently secured together at 2| and provided withribs such as 22 to increase the frictional contact with 88 the pulleycord C (Fig. 8). I

It will be noted that the pulley is of such configuration as to have itsaxial faces provided with annular recesses 24 and 28 adjacent to thedrive shaft, thus providing salient peripheral 60 zones at 88 and 21.Telescoped onto the round shank portion 21, and located in annularrecesses 38 is an abutment disc 28. After disc 28 has been placed on theshaft, a suitable cylindrical tool is driven axially of the shaft todisplace 85 metal from the point 1' and form an integral collar whichpermanently secures the parts together in the relationship shown in Fig.5. If

abutment disc 22 is provided with an octagonal hole surrounding shank21, metal will flow into 70 the corners of the hole as collar 48 isformed. thereby preventing rotation of disc 28 relative to the shaft 28.

The force applied in forming collar 48 shifts the pulley axially on theshank 21 against the 78 opposing force of spring disc 28. Thus, springdisc 28 is left in a stressed condition in which it I permanently andfrictionally engages the peripheral zone 28 of the pulley. Of course.when collar 48 is being stamped, friction disc 28 can be supported asrequired to limit the stressing of 5 disc 28 to the desired degree. I

It will be seen that the pulley P is rotatably mounted on the shaft 28but is coupled thereto by friction disc 28. Thus, when the pulley isrotated by operating cord C, the gear I6 is re,- tated to tilt the blindif the gear is free to rotate. However, if the gear is held againstrotation (as by the action of non-toothed sector l9, or by 3 the tiltslat of the blind striking an obstruction), 1 rotation of the pulleymerely results in slippage 15 between the pulley andfriction disc 28.thereby resulting in an idle movement of the pulley cord. In this way,the positions of the ends of the cord 'can be readily readjusted tocompensate for slippage of the cord on the pulley, when such 2 slippagehas accumulated during a period of use 1 .of the blind.

Associated with the pulleyP is a cord guide designated as a whole by G.This guide is stamped from a single piece of sheet metal and 2 includesa flat portion 4| which is located between the pulley P and the housingof the tilter. Stamped in flat portion 4| is a perforated boss '42 bywhich the cord guide is suspended from hook H as shown in Fig. 4. Ofcourse, the por- 30 tion 4| of the cord guide is perforated to permitshaft 28 to pass through it. If this perforation corresponds in size tothe size of shaft 28, the cord de will not be able to oscillate sidewisewith respect to the pulley. However, if this perforation is larger thanshaft 28, the cord guide will be able to oscillate sldewise, as morefully explained in my application Serial No. 119,865, filed January 5,1937. In practice I may make the cord guide either way, viz., either sothat it is loop, however, is not a closed loop since the ends of thecurved guide fingers 48 and 41 are spaced apart in opposed relation, asshown in Figs. 1 and 8. r

The tilter housing having been previously assembled (including the gearl6) the cord guide 6 "is merely hung in place on hook I! in an obviousmanner. Then worm 2i is dropped in man with gear l8, this dropping beingprovided for by the vertical channels II, II. Of course in putting theworm in place, care should be taken to see that the two gear elementsl8, l8 are rotatively isned to obtain registration between therespective teeth on the two gear elements, the respective blank portionsII on the two gear elements, and .5 the respective holes for connectormember MI. Pulley P and associated parts having been P manently afilxedto shaft 28 as previously described, the shaft is installed in thetilter. To do this it is merely necessary to insert the free end 10 ofthe shaft 28 (from the left side of Fig. 4) into the Journals providedby shaft-receiving recesses l4, I4, and at the same time drive theshaft, through the worm 2!. The shaft 28 is provided with suitableknurling or projections which en- 15 asaaoav gage the bore of the wormand permanently secure the shalt and the worm in the relationship shownin Fig. 4. For thispurpose I prefer to provide the shaft withinterlocking projections as disclosed in detail in my application SerialNo.

219,303, filed July 15, 1938.

It is dimcult and expensive to so unite the shells A and B that thehousing will be oil tight. However, I m-ovide a dish-dike lubricantretainer H (Figs. 2, 4, 6 and 7) which retains lubricant for thegearing. This retainer is stamped from a single piece of sheet metal andcomprises a trough portion BI and fourclip portions such as ii. In shapethe dish-member H correspondsto the hottom of the tilter housing whichencloses the gear II; and this dish-like member is adapted to e. snappedinto place over the housing. where it occupies the position shown inFigs. 2 and 4. Recesses I2, Fig. 7 (one in each side of the dishmember).provide space for the tilt bar connector M, and the clip members I areeach provided with an ear 5|. These ears snap over the top of thegear-receiving depressions II, as shown in Fig. 2, and hold the member Hin place. Thus the member H acts as a lubricant retainer permitting acertain level of lubricant to be kept about the gear I. and therebykeeping the worm and gear lubricated. I

The cord guide G is made with spaces at 5. it and I (Fig. 1) which arecorrelated with the thickness of the pulley cord C. The space 1 betweenthe ends of guide fingers II and ll is less than the thickness of thepulley cord, but great enough to permit the cord to be inserted throughit when the cord is diametrically compressed. The spaces at BI and 58are similarly correlated to the thickness of the pulley cord. Where thecord guide G is arranged to cacillate sidewlse with respcctto thepulley, these do spaces are such that the cord canbecompressed andinserted sidewlse through them by oscillating the guide G as indicatedin Fig. 8. After the cord C has been compressed and inserted through thespace l'l between the ends of fingers I and I1.

is the guide a n oscillated to one side and the cord forced betweenguide flange II and the rim of the pulley. with the cord in place in thepulley groove on this side, the cord guide is then oscillated in theopposite direction and the other 50 branch of the cord similarlyinserted. when the cord guide is so made as to be non-oscillatory, thespacingat llandliissuchthatthecord call. upon compression, be insertedsidewise between the guide flanges hand I! and the rim of the B8 glllesywithout the cord guide oscillation shown in g. 7 In compliance with thepatent statutes I have disclosed best form in which I have contemplatedapplyin my invention. but it will be un-. U derstood that thedisclosureis illustrative of the invention without limiting the scope ofthe same.

What is claimed is:

l. A Venetian blind tilter comprising: a wormand-gear assembly, the gearhaving a formation which engages the worm and prevents complete rotationof the gear: a drive shaft on which the worm is mo1mted;.a cord operatedpulley rotatable on said drive shaft: and means to operatively n couplethe pulley to the drive shaft wherebyrotawhenthegearilfreetorotatasaidcoupling means including a frictiondisc non-rotatahly mounted in the drive shaft and frictionally engagingaacoeofthe pulleywherebi 1g pulley cord ieadjustable by forcibly rot flndni drive shaft whereby rotation of the pulley imparts ley to saidtilting means whereby rotation of the pulley actuates the tilting meanswhen the same 1% gear:

' eratively couple the pulley to tion of the pulley imparts movement-tothe gear pulley relative to the shaft when the worm is not free torotate. 2. A Venetian blind tilter comprising: a wormand-gearassembly,the gear having a formation which engages the worm and prevents complete5 rotation of the gear; a drive shaft on which the worm is mounted; acord operated pulley rotatable on said drive shaft; and means tooperatively couple the pulley to the drive shaft whereby rotation of thepulley imparts movement tothe gear 10 when the gear is free to rotate,said coupling means including a spring disc non-rotatably mounted on thedrive shaft and frictionally en- -gaging a peripheral zone only of thepulley whereby the pulley cord is adjustable by forcibly ro- 15 tatingthe pulley'relative to the shaft when the worm is not free to rotate.

3. A Venetian blind tilter comprising: a wormand-gear assembly includingmeans to arrest rotation of the gear; a drive shaft on which the 20 wormis mounted: a cord operated pulley rotatable on said drive shaft, oneaxial face of the pulley having an annular recess surrounding the driveshaft whereby the pulley is provided with a salient peripheral zone; andmeans to operatively couple the pulley to the drive shaft wherebyrotation of the pulley imparts movement to the gear when the gear isfree to rotate, said coupling means including a springy discfrictionally engaging said salient peripheral zone, the center of 8 thedisc being biased toward said annular recess. and the pulley beingforcibly rotatable relative to the drive shaft to adjust the pulleycord.

4. In a Venetian blind: a worm-and-gear assembly for tilting the slatsof the blind, there be- $5 ing means to arrest rotation of the gear; adrive shaft on which the worm is mounted; a cord operated pulleyrotatable on said drive shaft; and v means to'operativelycouple thepulley to the a, movement to the gear when the gear is free to rotate,said coupling means including a friction drive whereby the pulley cordis adjustable by forcibly rotating the pulley relative to the shaft whenrotation of the gear is arrested.

5. In a Venetian blind: means for tiltin the slats of the blind, therebeing means to arrest the movement of said tilting means; a cordoperated Pulley; and means to operativeiy couple said pulis free tomove, said coupling means including a frictional driving connectionwhereby the pulley cord is adjustable by forcibly rotating the pulleyrelative to the tilting means when movement of the tilting means isarrested.

6. In a Venetian blind: a. worm-and-gear assembly, there being means toarrest rotation of mounted; a cord operated pulley rotatable on saiddrive shaft, each axial face of the pulley having an annular recesssurrounding the drive whereby each face of the pulley is provided with asalient peripheral zone; and means to op- 05 the drive shaft wherebyrotation of the pulley imparts movement to the gear when the gear isfree to rotate, said coupling means including a friction drive wherebythe pulley cord is adjustable by forcibly rotating lo.

the pulley relative to said drive shaft when rotation of the gear isarrested. said friction drive including a collar affixed to the driveshaft and nesting into one of said pulley recesses, and an axiallystressed disc sills-ed to the drive shaftand m a drive shaft on whichthe wormls engaging the peripheral zone of the pulley on a one-piecedished lubricant-retaining member the face opposite to said oollar.

7. A Venetian blind tilter comprising: two stamped sheet metal shells,each having a flat face portion, a gear-receiving depression adiacent tothe bottom of the stamping, a channel open at both ends and connectingthe depression with the top of the stamping, and a shaft-receivingrecess extending crosswise oi the channel, the.

two sheetmetal shells being secured together in iace-to-iacerelationship with saiddepressions;

channels and recesses in registration a shaft Journalled in saidshaft-receiving recesses; a gear in said gear receiving depressions; aworm meshing with said gear, the worm being amxed to said shaft andbeing positioned in said channels and nesting with the lower portion ofsaid gear-receiving recess and eflective to retain lubricant in therecess regardless of leaky assembly or said sheet metal shells. Y

8. A Venetian blind tilter comprising: two stamped sheet metal shellssecured together; a worm-and-ge'ar assembly embraced and supported bythe shells, the worm-and-gear being adjacent to the bottom of theshells: and a In bricant-retaining dish member nesting with the lowerportion of said shells to hold lubricant in contact with one of saidgear elements regardless ofleaky assembly of said sheet metal shells.

HANS K. noREmzEN.

